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"... and Charmy was stuck to the ceiling fan for at least four hours until we noticed," Espio finishes his story of how the bee has secretly tried Vector’s bubblegum and got himself coated in it.
Sonic and Tails both break into laughter. Silver joins, too, but looks more concerned than anything. Blaze merely shakes her head but looks amused too. Sonic wipes a tear from his eye as the laughter dies down. "I’m gonna grab myself another chilidog. You guys want anything?" he asks, looking into the group. They all shake their heads or in Blaze's case politely decline. "Alright, be back in a flash," Sonic says, speeding in front of the table with his birthday buffet in less than a second. He's about to grab a chilidog when Rouge walks up to him, a drink in her hand.
"Hey, Big Blue," she says conversationally. "Sup, Rouge," Sonic drawls back cheerfully, though he’s suddenly getting the hunch that something's up.
"How's the surprise party? Enjoying yourself?"
Sonic snorts with a smirk. "You mean aside from the little 'blast-from-the-past-detour' turning everyone into statues? Yeah, it's been great." His eyes travel around his friends all standing around the table in small groups, conversing. Well, all but a certain black hedgehog standing off to the side by himself and leaning against the tree with his arms crossed. Of course.
"I can't believe you even got Shadow to come! What did you blackmail him with, hm?" Sonic asks Rouge, amused. The bat laughs, one hand in front of her mouth. "More like bargained. He got a free ticket to the ARK in exchange."
That causes Sonic to raise a curious eyebrow at her. "That doesn’t happen to relate to whatever business he needed the Chaos Emerald I nabbed from him for, did it?" Sonic has wondered what Shadow was up to while they were all trapped in White Space.
Rouge weighs her head. "Sort of? Why don't you go ask him yourself?" she prompts, smiling shrewdly. Unsurprised, Sonic crosses his arms, grinning. "What're you planning now?" Rouge just continues smiling, her lips sealed. Sonic rolls his eyes good-humouredly. "Fine, alright. Keep your secrets," he backs down. He's about to walk over to Shadow when Rouge stops him by tugging at his upper arm. "Oh, and Blue?" She waits until Sonic turns around to look at her. "Don’t be too hard on him. He's ... been put through the wringer." There is genuine concern in the bat's voice now.
Ah, so there is the true reason for their chat. Except that it makes things more confusing. "Any reason you're not doing it yourself? I thought you two were close?" Sonic asks curiously. Not that he won't do it. It just seems weird to him for her to pass that on to him.
Rouge smiles knowingly. "Not like you are, Blue," she answers simply, letting go of his arm and joining a group around Knuckles and Vector before Sonic has a chance to really process what she said.
Shrugging to himself he approaches Shadow for real this time, though Rouge's words accompany him despite his efforts to put them out of his mind. Not like me? What’s that supposed to mean? Knowing Shadow, the faker is probably going to scoff at him and Chaos Control away before Sonic can even finish simply asking how he's doing. If he doesn't get a fist to the face first.
And speaking of him, now that he’s reached the black hedgehog, Sonic notices that he has his eyes closed as he leans against the tree.
"Still sulky because of your loss, ultimate party pooper?" Sonic can't help but tease with a grin. Shadow opens an eye to regard him, a very faint smug grin spreading across his face. It doesn’t reach his eyes, though. "You didn't even notice, did you?" The seemingly random comment puzzles Sonic. "...notice what?" Sonic asks.
"The emerald you took. It was a fake," Shadow explains, not wanting to miss the opportunity to show he had the upper hand. "Huh? Really? ... hm, I guess it did feel off a little," Sonic admits, thinking back. "What 'business' did ya need the original one for anyway?" he asks, seizing the opportunity to find out what has been going on on Shadow's end.
Shadow hmphs and looks away. Pulling up the usual walls. "It's none of your concern." But if Shadow thinks this strategy works, he doesn't account for it to be a glimpse at the truth for Sonic. Now that Sonic got a closer look at Shadow, he notices how ruffled and exhausted he looks and how the white of his eyes is slightly reddened like... Has he been crying?
There was only one thing the blue hedgehog can think of that has the potential for Shadow to react that way.
Looks like Sonic's younger self wasn't the only one who got pulled from the past.
Sonic closes the gap between himself and Shadow a little more, earning himself a scowl from the faker. But Sonic also detects a hint of dread there as they make eye contact and Shadow notices the understanding that has dawned on Sonic's face. The truth about who he's seen in White Space that he doesn't want Sonic – doesn’t want anyone – to know. Sonic casually crosses his arms. "Must've been a gut punch to see her again, huh?" he says sympathetically, dropping the quipping.
Shadow seems to struggle with how to react to that. A brief flash of horror lights up his eyes as Sonic guesses correctly but is quickly replaced with a glare. "It'll pass," he growls indifferently, already feeling like he admits too much with just that. Despite the tart response, Sonic can detect no anger in Shadow's voice which surprises him.
"You wanna tal-" Instinctively, Sonic reaches out a hand towards Shadow but that causes the other to push himself away from the tree. Shadow is already racing away from the party entirely before Sonic can finish. "Thanks for coming anyway!" Sonic calls after him, hands cupped around his mouth. If Shadow heard he gives no notice. Sonic's hands fall down as he watches the black hedgehog disappear into the distance.
So that didn't go as well as he hoped. But Sonic also expected more anger and annoyance from him than what he got.
The party goes on for a little longer after that but the whole time Sonic can't shake the feeling he let Shadow down somehow. Finally saying goodbye to the last of his friends, the blue blur dashes off, searching. It takes a bit; well after the broken moon rises up in the sky, but some kind of pull leads Sonic into the direction he needs to go.
He's sitting in a field of white lilies with a broken off tree nearby. Although, calling it sitting is perhaps inaccurate. The black hedgehog is hunched over, his arms loosely crossed and resting heavily on his knees with his muzzle lying on top. His eyes stare down emptily at the waving flowers and don’t really see them at all.
This posture is so unlike anything Sonic is used to from Shadow that he needs a moment to take it in. The sympathy he’s had for him from before is still there but, seeing Shadow like this, right now, stirs a deeper feeling of affection for the black hedgehog inside Sonic that he's unfamiliar with.
Shadow sighs heavily, his back to Sonic. "What do you want now?" he asks Sonic gruffly, not turning around.
Spontaneously, Sonic crouches down to pick one of the lilies before walking closer to sit down next to Shadow. Closer than he normally would. Sonic holds out the lily to Shadow.
"It's alright if ya don't wanna talk," Sonic says. He suddenly feels a little stupid with the flower. He can already hear the mockery coming from Shadow; the faker will probably ridicule Sonic for that forever now. No matter.
Shadow looks at the flower, faintly surprised, a little irritated perhaps – even Sonic has trouble telling sometimes with that scowl of his –, but to Sonic's astonishment he hesitantly and wordlessly accepts the gift. Shadow carefully holds the flower up to his eyes, hovering the other hand over it as if to protect it. Or as if he’s unsure if he should touch it.
"I want you to know that you're not alone. And that you're not gonna get rid of me that easily, faker," Sonic can’t help the small quip at the end, but the smile of his face is sincere. Surprisingly, the corners of Shadow's mouth twitch, even if it can't dispel the air of grief that seems to surround him.
"She'd have liked you."
Sonic's ears twitch, pleasantly surprised that the other opened his door, if just a little. There is no doubt who this 'she' is. "Woah really? That coming from you means a lot. Heh,” he chuckles. More calmly and with an easy smile he adds: “It seems to me like she knows how to make an impression on others." He pointedly looks at Shadow for the last part. Shadow tears his eyes away from the flower in his hand and slowly looks up at Sonic, holding his gaze pensively. He looks like he wants to say something but his mouth stays shut and he soon returns to studying his flower. His fingertips gently brush over the petals now.
"Not the only one."
Sonic tilts his head to the side. Shadow’s voice is so low that Sonic only barely caught it and he’s pretty sure he wasn't supposed to hear that. But the implication is clear. He decides not to press Shadow about it. Though patience by far is not his strong suit, Sonic thinks that perhaps can make an exception just this once. For him. Seeing as Shadow seems to have no intention to leave, Sonic leans back, letting himself fall into the grass and flowers. Lying on his back, he puts his hands behind his head waiting. Watching. With him.
And his patience is rewarded.
"Like you, she loved the planet."
Sonic sits up quickly, his heart stumbling over the first part. He never realized Shadow has grown to know him this well, considering how he mostly resorted to teasing the black hedgehog. Shadow still has his eyes fixed firmly on the flower, spinning it slowly between two fingers. A sudden weak snort escapes him, very faintly laced with amusement. "She saw us racing away, you know. She thought you seemed 'nice'."
Unable to keep his mouth shut any longer, Sonic nudges Shadow affectionately. "Aww. I wish I could've met her." Shadow doesn't reply at once but when he does it's the slightest of nods in agreement.
Sonic can't help but smile brightly at that. It's short lived though, considering the gloomy silence Shadow falls back into right after. Sonic truly appreciates Shadow telling him about Maria, but the black hedgehog seems to be moving in circles. Knowing it was a dangerous gamble and honestly unsure with himself what exactly drives him that moment; Sonic leans towards Shadow, as slow as one would approach a cornered animal. His heartbeat racing, Sonic's own side eventually presses against the Shadow’s. The black hedgehog stiffens up...
...but stays in place. Sonic's heart misses a beat.
It takes a moment but eventually, equally slowly, Shadow leans into him too, lulled by the feeling of security and familiarity. When Sonic feels the first silent tear pat his shoulder his hand reaches up to Shadow's back almost automatically. That seems to break the stoic hedgehog’s walls completely. All the pain and tears he'd so carefully locked away come crashing over him.
Shadows shoulders shake with the silent sobs that even now he cannot bring himself to give a voice too. He'd been so close... and yet further away than ever to change their fate. But in the end he still had to let Maria go. He knows it was the only right thing to do.
He's tried to put the grief out of his mind for the longest time. It was useless to him, after all ...but after what he's experienced in White Space it has become too much. Once, he took vengeance. Once, he forgot. Once, he put his past behind him. But he has never grieved. Never allowed himself to before.
And it hurts. It hurts and he hates how weak it makes him feel. How vulnerable.
Yet the physical contact... Sonic being so close... it felt like his mind and body have waited a long time for a moment like this. To just let it all out in the arms of someone he trusts like he trusts no one else left alive.
... in the arms? It is only now that Shadow becomes aware of being held closely. Sonic has shifted his position to hug him close, even the cheek of his muzzle is pressing against Shadow's own. It violently stirs the memories, both recent and distant, of Maria hugging him to sooth his troubled mind. He wants it to stop and for it to never end. It wasn't the same... but it also didn't need to be. It wasn't tainted by impending tragedy or the frustration of not being able to be the cure. It was just... this stupid hedgehog. This stupid, annoying, lovable blue hedgehog.
Said blue hedgehog has not said a single word the entire time, a self restraint Shadow didn't think was possible.
Shadow raises his arms and slowly wraps them tightly around that familiar blue body, still holding on to the flower in his hand. The physical contact he had unknowingly starved himself off fills him with security and love. Shadow buries his muzzle deep into Sonic's shoulder, cherishing the feeling. He would never forget this.
"If you tell anyone about this, I will punch you," he rumbles, voice entirely made of affection. He can feel the movement of Sonic's facial muscles as the other smiles. "Wouldn't dream of it," Sonic answers earnestly.